Talk:cookery

RFV discussion: December 2019–January 2020
Rfv-sense "Making something appear better than it is; altering or falsifying records; 'window dressing'." Both the quotations given are actually a subsense of definition 1, with the specific meaning "preparing food so that it is pleasing to the senses [with no/little regard to the health of the food]". It's possible that a new sense has evolved from Jowett's translation of Plato, but Gorgias is not evidence for the use of it. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 03:40, 16 December 2019 (UTC)


 * The OED has a similar sense (page at archive.org); sense 4, "the act of 'cooking' or falsifying", with a couple quotes. (The earlier volumes, including C, are clearly PD in the US and UK.) I don't blame Plato; the phrase of "cooking the books" is pretty common, and "book cookery" seems very reasonable, even if I can't find any hits in Google Books.--Prosfilaes (talk) 09:01, 16 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Without prejudice as to whether the term in this sense can be attested, I agree that (the translation of) Plato’s Gorgias is not usable as an attestation. Socrates is arguing that rhetoric, making things look good verbally, is analogous to what cooks do, making dishes look appetizing. The term as used by Plato (μαγειρικὴ ἐμπειρία – ἀλλὰ οὐ τέχνη) has its literal meaning. --Lambiam 13:26, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

RFV-failed. While plausible, we have been unable to cite this. The only cites found were translations of Plato. Kiwima (talk) 20:15, 16 January 2020 (UTC)
 * The two OED citations don't seem to be from Plato. They also seem to be using the term more deliberately metaphorically rather than intending a new definition. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 00:32, 18 January 2020 (UTC)